Banjarbaru legal team representatives Muhamad Pazri (left) and Denny Indrayana (right) filing two regional election dispute petition to the Court, Wednesday afternoon (12/4/2024). Photo by MKRI/Panji.
JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Banjarbaru Hanyar legal team representatives Muhamad Pazri and Denny Indrayana filed two petitions over the 2024 regional (governor, regent, mayor) election results dispute to the Constitutional Court on Wednesday afternoon, December 4, 2024. Those two petitions on the 2024 Banjarbaru mayor election were filed by Muhamad Arifin, coordinator of the Institute for Vision Studies of the Archipelago of South Kalimantan, and Banjarbaru City Election Observers, represented by Udiansyah and Abd. Karim.
In an interview with the Court’s media crew, Pazri revealed that the petition questions the voting citizens’ right who could not cast their vote in the election in Banjarbaru City, South Kalimantan Province, partly due to election that were not in accordance with the Constitution. The Petitioners also raised questions over the absence of empty box when only one candidate pair ran in the election. Pazri said the organizers did properly implement the provisions on the technical implementation of the election.
“Next, we ask that the KPU (General Elections Commission) Decree No. 191 of 2024 on the certification of the results of the election of mayor and vice mayor of Banjarbaru City in 2024 in the vote acquisition in the area be canceled and we propose a reelection with the organization taken over by the Central KPU as well as a new registration process,” Pazri explained.
Legal Efforts to Save Votes
Denny Indrayana added that the legal team would take four actions to tackle the constitutional issues of the Banjarbaru City election. First, by submitting a petition to the Constitutional Court. This is to save the votes in Banjarbaru City, where the empty box was necessary but was not made available by the KPU. Second, by filing a case to Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body) for an alleged criminal act of causing the loss of voters’ right as well as alleged administrative violations. The Petitioners also challenged the KPU’s decision to the Supreme Court and submitted a list of violations that occurred during the Banjarbaru election to DKPP (Election Organizer Ethics Council).
Denny revealed that initially, two candidate pairs had run in the Banjarbaru City election—Candidate 1 Lisa Halaby-Wartono and Candidate 2 Aditya-Said Abdullah. However, one candidate was disqualified, leaving only a single candidate who was supposed to face an empty box. In reality, he said, there was no empty box, votes by voters who did not vote for Candidate 1 were considered invalid. In addition, it was recognized that it was difficult to find election observers in the city due to intimidation, so the Petitioners filed the petition to the Constitutional Court with the support of provincial election observers and voters who could not exercise their voting rights.
“These votes should be considered valid if there had been an empty box. Based on the Election Law and the Constitutional Court’s decisions, if a single candidate compete with an empty box, the vote for the empty box is a valid vote for the empty box. However, votes for the disqualified candidate (which should be an empty box) were considered invalid,” Denny explained.
Central Buton Governor Election: Absence of Revote
Meanwhile, Central Buton (Southeast Sulawesi Province) regent-vice regent candidates 2 La Andi-Abidin question election violations, such as one relating to a revote. The pair also suspected TSM (structured, systematic, and massive) violations that led to their disqualification. Legal counsel Imam Ridho Angga Yuwono said that in connection with the absence of the PSU implementation, the Central Buton community had submitted a report to Bawaslu but it had not been followed up properly.
“In addition, the KPU’s counting and recapitulation process was accelerated, so a revote could not be carried out between handling violations and the recapitulation process. Certification of the results happened before the implementation of Bawaslu’s considerations and decision for the revote,” Imam explained.
He added that the margin between the Petitioners’ votes and those of Candidate Pair 1 Azhari-Muhammad Adam Basa, 500 votes were below 2%, or not meeting the threshold mentioned in the legislation. However, he still hopes that this case be accepted by the Court and examined soon so the Petitioners will win the Central Buton regency election.
The Court has received eighteen regent/mayor election results dispute petitions relating to:
- Murung Raya regent election, filed by Nuryakin and Doni;
- Pasaman regent election filed by Mara Ondak and Desrizal;
- Empat Lawang regent election, filed by Ruli Margianto and Anggi Aribowo;
- Banjarbaru mayor election, filed by Muhamad Arifin (selaku Koordinator Lembaga Studi Visi Nusantara Kalimantan Selatan);
- Banjarbaru mayor election, filed by Udiansyah and Abd. Karim;
- Banjarbaru mayor election, filed by Hamand Eko Benyamine;
- Lhokseumawe mayor election, filed by Ismail and Azhar Mahmud;
- Banjarbaru mayor election, filed by M. Aditya Mufti Arifin and Said Abdullah;
- Ogan Komering Ulu regent election, filed by Yudi Nugraha and Yenni Elita;
- Pangandaran regent election, filed by Ujang Endin Indrawan and Dadang Solihat;
- South Bolaang Mongondow regent election, filed by Arsalan Makalalag and Hartina S. Badu;
- Padang Panjang mayor election, filed by Nasrul and Eri;
- Parepare mayor election, filed by Erna Rasyid Taufan and Rahmat Sjansu Alam;
- Langsa mayor election, filed by Maimul Mahdi and Nurzahri;
- Central Buton regent election, filed by La Andi and Abidin;
- Bireun regent election, filed by Murdani Yusuf dan Abdul Muhaimin;
- Pasaman regent election;
- Langsa mayor election.
Out of those eighteen, eleven petitions were lodged online through SIMPEL, while the other seven were lodged on site.
Author : Sri Pujianti/L.A.P.
Editor : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)
Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.
Wednesday, December 04, 2024 | 21:30 WIB 60